Double-digit unemployment continues

Three of the four counties in the mid-Michigan region continued to suffer through double-digit unemployment in February as the winter labor market remained stagnant, according to an analysis of state figures.

“Michigan’s labor markets were very stable in February,” said Rick Waclawek, director of the Bureau of Labor Market Information & Strategic Initiatives. “Changes to area job totals over the month were mostly seasonal, with the public and private education sectors recalling workers following the holiday break.”

Overall, across the four-county region of Clare, Gratiot, Isabella and Montcalm counties, unemployment stood at 9.5 percent in February, down from 10 percent in February 2012.

Clare County’s unemployment rate was 13.1 percent, down from 13.4 percent in February 2012, but up slightly from January’s 13.0 percent.

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Montcalm County stood at 11.8 percent in February, down from 2012’s 12.3 percent, but up from 11.5 percent in January.

Gratiot County was at 10.0 percent in February. That county was at 12.3 percent in February 2012 and 10.3 percent in January.

Isabella County saw 6.6 percent unemployment in February, down from 6.9 percent during the comparable month of 2012, but up from 6.5 percent the month before.

Fewer people actually had jobs in February of this year compared to the same month last year. An analysis of figures released by the Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget showed Clare, Gratiot and Montcalm counties all lost jobs year-to-year, with only a slight gain in Isabella County offsetting the losses. All told, 444 jobs disappeared year to year in the four counties

However, more than twice that many people left the work force. The percentage of working-age adults with a job or looking for one is a figure that economists call the participation rate. Nationwide, it’s the lowest since 1979.

Normally during an economic recovery, an expanding economy lures job seekers back into the labor market. But this time, many have stayed on the sidelines, and more have joined them.

Longer-term trends have helped keep the participation rate down. The baby boomers have begun to retire. The share of men 20 and older in the labor force has dropped as manufacturing has shrunk.

After expanding from the early 1950s through the mid-1990s, the share of women working or looking for work has plateaued. Fewer teenagers are working. And some people who have left the job market are getting by on government aid, particularly Social Security’s program for the disabled.

Heidi Shierholz, an economist at the liberal Economic Policy Institute, said the labor force participation nationwide among those ages 25 to 54 — “prime age” workers — has dropped to 81.1 percent. It hasn’t been lower since 1984.

In central Michigan, the labor force increased by about 1,000 workers between January and February, while the number of people with jobs went up by about 850. The state said schools and colleges bringing people back after winter break accounted for much of the hiring statewide.

Isabella County recorded the fourth-lowest countywide unemployment rate in February. Tech-heavy Washtenaw County was lowest, at 5.3 percent. Kent and Barry counties tied for second at 6.3 percent, while Isabella and Clinton counties tied for fourth at 6.6.

A total of 47 of Michigan’s 83 counties recorded double-digit joblessness during February. The state’s highest unemployment county remained Mackinac County, where the jobless rate hit 24.6 percent in February.

Mark Ranzenberger is online editor of TheMorningSun.com. Follow him on Twitter @ranzenberger.